Unexpected Encounter

Meliodas wandered through the streets of Vistarion, walking nonchalantly with one hand in his pocket and another holding a bottle of ale. Meliodas stopped for a moment and let out a sigh.

"Can't believe I flew all the way out to that mountain and there was nobody there…" Meliodas gulped down the rest of his ale and continued walking down the street. 'Maybe Itsuki found out something new?'

Meliodas made his way towards Itsuki's tour area. He greeted the familiar tour guide.

"Meliodas! Did you find him at Tremolo Mountain?" Itsuki asked. Meliodas shook his head.

"Oh…" Itsuki looked a bit disappointed but he quickly sprung back up. "I got some more news for you though. Just learned this while you were gone! Alvarez is going to war with some small country in Ishgar named Fiore. Once Emperor Spriggan returns to the country soon, Oh man! I can't wait for that country to-"

Itsuki suddenly felt an immense pressure emanating from Meliodas. Meliodas immediately crushed the empty bottle of ale in his hand and his hair began to rise. Itsuki took a few steps back before stumbling to the ground.

"W-w-whats the matter?" Itsuki stuttered. Meliodas took a deep breath in and the pressure disappeared.

"I'm not going to let that happen. I've already been through two wars." Meliodas said as he began walking in the direction of the castle.

"I'm going to put an end to this before it even begins."

"W-what? You're just going to-" Itsuki was cut off by the gust of wind as Meliodas took off towards the main castle.

Meliodas dashed through the streets, knocking over passerby with the sheer force of the wind from him running. Out of the corner of his eye, Meliodas noticed a very familiar figure. He turned his head and the two of them locked eyes.

"Makarov?" Meliodas came to a skidding halt, sinking his feet into the hard ground.

"M-Meliodas?! What are you doing here?!" Makarov exclaimed.

"I was originally here to find a way back to Britannia but that's going to have to wait. There's a war that I need to stop first." Meliodas said.

"Yes…the one between Alvarez and Fiore." Makarov said as he pointed to the alley behind him. "Come with me for a bit. I need to talk to you about this. Don't worry, we have time."

Meliodas nodded and followed Makarov into the alleyway. Makarov cleared his throat before speaking.

"Normally, I wouldn't ever tell you this information. This only gets passed down from guild master to guild master. But this situation is drastic enough to where I will tell you this. Let me ask you this first though. Do you know the reason why Alvarez and Ishgar have the trade ban in the first place?" Makarov asked.

"Isn't that because they tried to invade over a few decades ago?" Meliodas responded.

"That's part of it. But the reason was because of Fairy Tail. With both of Ishgar's deterrents, Etherion and Face, gone, nothing will stop Alvarez from invading anymore."

"Why would an entire nation invade Fiore because of one guild?" Meliodas asked.

"Fairy Tail's biggest secret. Lumen Histoire. It's also Fairy Tail's ultimate weapon. It's a source of infinite magic. For example, with it, you could continuously fire Etherion without stopping."

"And how did Fairy Tail even get this ultimate weapon?" Meliodas asked.

"Something like that…you'd have to speak to the first master about. It is her body that is the weapon after all." Makarov said.

"Well, that explains why she's a spirit." Meliodas responded. "By the way, why are you here?"

"I'm seeking an audience with Emperor Spriggan in order to call off this invasion. I've been waiting here over six months for his return." Makarov said.

"There's no need to wait. I'll take you straight to the castle." Meliodas turned around and began walking out of the alley.

"WAIT!" Makarov shouted. "Not even you can fight the entirety of the Alvarez Empire by yourself! There's a group called the Spriggan 12! They're far stronger than Tartaros! I know you've brawled Acnologia's human form before, but now that they're in war time, most of them should be here at the Capitol! It would be an uphill battle even for you!"

"That might have been true if you told me this last year. But a lot has changed since then." Meliodas continued walking but stopped as Makarov's arm grew to a massive size and grabbed Meliodas.

"I…cannot let you go there…even if Fairy Tail isn't around anymore…even if you're over three thousand years old…you're still my child Meliodas. I can't let my child die …"

Meliodas turned his head towards Makarov and smiled at him.

"Thanks for everything, Master. But this is something that I have to do. And like I said-"

Makarov let go of Meliodas as he felt an enormous magical power coming from him. Meliodas' shirt disappeared, replaced by a cloak of darkness and darkness covered his legs. Makarov stood still as he stared at Meliodas.

"This power…just what happened to you this past year…" Makarov said quietly, feeling the loss of strength in his legs just by standing near Meliodas.

"After this is over, we can all go back to being a family again." Meliodas jumped up into the air, his cloak growing black wings.

Meliodas took off towards the castle, leaving a black trail behind him. Citizens down below looked at the sky above, perplexed as it began to get darker and darker. The bright sun that was shining over Vistarion became covered by a veil of darkness that swept over the skyline.

Meliodas could sense six powerful magic sources within the castle as he broke through the ceiling and landed on the top floor. Standing in front of him, was a man wearing glasses with long blue hair tied into a ponytail over his right shoulder. He donned a high collared blue trench coat with dark markings branded diagonally across and underneath was a white collared shirt with a blue tie and dark blue dress pants.

"Y-you…" The blue haired man stood dumbfounded as he gawked at Meliodas. 'This power…it surpasses the entirety of the Spriggan 12…this man…if he's even human at all, is a threat to His Majesty…'

Meliodas looked down at his feet which were now frozen to the ground. In that same instant, Meliodas' entire body was encased in ice.

The blue haired man adjusted his glasses and took a step towards Meliodas.

"Someone like you, I cannot allow you to-"

The ice surrounding Meliodas suddenly shattered and a strong force pushed Invel back.

"You're unaffected by my ice?!"

"No, you're just too weak Invel!" A voice shouted from above. Invel looked up at the ceiling and noticed a man with long purple hair wearing a jointed green suit of armor with a yellow frilly collar. The man sat atop one of the roof beams with his legs crossed looking down at Invel and Meliodas.

"It's about time you revealed yourself. I thought I was going to have to bring you down here myself." Meliodas commented.

"Neinhart?! How long were you up there?!" Invel exclaimed.

"Long enough to make my Historias!" Neinhart jumped down and landed next to Invel. "Now! How about some entertainment for us and our powerful guest here!" Neinhart snapped his fingers and five familiar figures began to form in front of Meliodas. Meliodas' eyes widened with surprise as he realized who they were.

"You had quite the interesting past didn't you, Meliodas!" Neinhart laughed.